


The Enchanted Key

by glim



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mermaid, Bath Sex, Community: summerpornathon, F/F, Secret Relationship, Team Gluttony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-20
Updated: 2012-07-20
Packaged: 2017-11-10 08:16:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/464145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glim/pseuds/glim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Before Morgana agreed to come to Camelot as a ward of the king, she made one stipulation: that she be left alone on Saturday nights.</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Enchanted Key

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Summerpornathon 2012 [Challenge 3: Non-human characters](http://summerpornathon.livejournal.com/80312.html). Inspired by the tale of Melusine. (Revised/expanded version.)

"Will there be anything else, my lady?"

Morgana's silent behind her screen; silk whispers over her bare skin as she slips into a dressing gown and she sighs in a soft, thoughtful way. "No, I don't think so, Gwen. You can leave now."

Gwen waits until Morgana steps from behind the screen, curtseys, and leaves her lady's chambers, locking the door behind her. 

Gwen knows, without having been told, that the key is enchanted. When she locks the door it glows for her, as if pleased, and the weight and shape of it in her hand is perfect, as if it were made for only her to use while her lady bathes. 

*

Before Morgana agreed to come to Camelot as a ward of the king, she made one stipulation: that she be left alone on Saturday nights. Uther had thought Vivienne ridiculous to indulge her daughter's request, but the union between Camelot and Cornwall was too valuable for him to argue. 

The king intends to marry Morgana to marry Prince Arthur, but Gwen knows Uther's secret, too. She remembers how he commanded her to hand him the key, how he took it from her when she refused, and how the key refused to unlock Morgana's chambers for him. 

*

Every Saturday, Gwen orders a bath for her lady, has the tub filled with hot water, adds a handful of fragrant herbs to the water, lays out clean linens, and then leaves the room.   
Most nights, Gwen only hears the soft plash of water and the padding of footsteps inside Morgana's room. 

Some nights, however, she hears Morgana hum a wandering, wordless tune that wraps itself around Gwen's senses, and she feels the water as it sluices over Morgana's body, between her breasts and over her arms; she smells the lavender scented steam and taste the salty tang of Morgana's skin. The key rests warm and heavy inside her pocket, its golden glow suffusing beneath the surface of her skin.

Later, when she's in her own small room, Gwen recalls a few of the notes and she wraps them around herself until she flushes with arousal. Her own fingers on her breasts and between her thighs make her sigh with pleasure, and the need for her lady's touch. 

*

"You can leave now, Gwen," Morgana says again a few weeks later, and skims her fingers down Gwen's arm to touch the hand that holds the key to her chambers. "Or you can stay, if you like."

"Oh. I shouldn't -- I mean, I would like, but…" Gwen bites her lip and looks at the door. "Who would watch for you? For us?"

Morgana clasps both her hands around Gwen's and smiles when her eyes glow the same color gold as the key. "Lock the door from the inside. It'll work, but only for you." 

Morgana's words warm Gwen and something about their tone and cadence reminds her of the beautiful, haunting song that she suspects no one else in Camelot has heard Morgana sing. "Only for me," she says and her arousal is sudden and hot, a pang of longing that hits Gwen right at the center of her chest. "Just as you are."

Morgana wraps her arms around Gwen from behind once the door is locked and kisses the nape of Gwen's neck. 

"Tonight, I'll undress you, and do what you bid, as you've always done for me." 

"Will you show me…" Gwen's head tips back onto Morgana's shoulder and she sighs as Morgana cups her breasts, palms them through Gwen's dress until her nipples tighten. "Show me what you hide from everyone else."

"Aren't my secrets yours already?" Sliding the dress from Gwen's shoulders, Morgana nuzzles in against her skin and hums softly. "You've seen my magic, heard my song. I've given myself to you in one way already."

A pang of possession echoes the earlier one of desire and Gwen turns in Morgana's arms. She fingers the angle of Morgana's jaw and maps out the lines of her collarbone and rise of her breasts. "I've guarded you all these nights. I don't want anything more than what you have to give, but -- I'm not sure I have any secrets to share in exchange."

"I'm sure you do." Morgana waits until she's pushed Gwen's dress off her body, until she's mouthed her breasts and stomach through the thin shift, and until she's pressed her hand to Gwen's mound and slipped her fingers between her thighs into the damp heat there. 

Morgana leaves Gwen needy, wet and wanting, when she tugs Gwen to the bath. "No," Gwen says on a quickening breath, then, "Show me." 

The water glows sea-blue and green when Morgana steps into it and with a splash she reveals her body transformed: more beautiful, more elegant than any of the illustrations of sirens, serpents, or mermaids that Gwen has seen in bestiary pages. 

Morgana's mouth curves into an uncertain frown as Gwen stares, but Gwen gives her no chance to rescind her offer. 

"Keep touching me." Gwen slips into the bath and slides the length of her body against Morgana's, laughing as their breasts brush and Morgana's tail flicks around her ankles. She runs her hand over the green-blue-gold scales that cover Morgana's lower body and presses in even closer to feel the slippery catch of them against the skin of her stomach. 

"Touch me _everywhere_." Gwen hooks one leg around Morgana first to keep her from slipping away, then to rub her clit against the smooth scales.

And Morgana does, touching Gwen and winding around her, serpentine, until there are no more secrets between them. 

*

"Is it a curse? No, forget I said that. Nothing this beautiful could be." Gwen runs her hand over Morgana's tail as they sit in the cooling bathwater, spent and sore. 

Morgana stretches, flicks water at Gwen, and winds herself back up around Gwen with a sleepy sigh. "My husband's not supposed to see me this way, but --"

"He won't. He never will." Gwen wraps herself around Morgana as best she can. "This is my secret."


End file.
